"Tom Swifties" (Was Re: Prescriptivism)

[Patti Kurtz]

And from the same site, here's why they're called "Tom Swifties":

the quip takes its name from **Tom Swift**, a boy's adventure hero created
by the prolific American writer Edward L. Stratemeyer. Under the
pseudonym Victor Appleton, he published a series of books featuring the
young Tom Swift. Tom Swift rarely passed a remark without a qualifying
adverb as "Tom added eagerly" or "Tom said jokingly". The play on words
discussed here arose as a pastiche of this, coming to be known by the
term **Tom Swifty**.

Patti Kurtz



On 12/4/05, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at YAHOO.COM>
> Subject:      "Tom Swifties" (Was Re: Prescriptivism)
>
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>
> Gorge here on "Tom Swifties" :
>
>   www.fun-with-words.com/tom_swifties_history.html
>
>   JL
>
>
> RonButters at AOL.COM wrote:
>   ---------------------- Information from the mail header
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> Sender: American Dialect Society
> Poster: RonButters at AOL.COM
> Subject: =?ISO-8859-1?Q?Re:=20=A0=20=A0=20=A0=20Re:=20Inner=20Prescriptiv?
> = =?ISO-8859-1?Q?ism?=
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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> In a message dated 12/4/05 5:29:08 PM, wuxxmupp2000 at YAHOO.COM writes:
>
>
> > =A0 As I heard it, the Swiftie in question began, "' I'm not queer,"=20
> > ejaculated Tom....' "
> >=20
>
> As I heard it (when I was abut 14), it was about what one maggot said
> to=20
> another, but I can't remember what was said.
>
>
>
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